2010 Columbus Marathon

I know this run report is a little late, but I've been waiting to see if I would have access to higher resolution images from the race course photographers. As of today, I don't, so I will just go ahead and post with the images I do have, courtesy of my own camera, which I carried in my hand for the full marathon. As you'll soon see, the images are of great importance!

Most, but not all, of the MCRR runners made it to the designated picture spot before race start. It got crowded quickly along Broad Street and just trying to make your way through the crowd was nearly impossible at times. What a collection of runners! We had some looking to PR, some looking to BQ, others just looking to have a fun run, and a recent qualifier to the women's Olympic Marathon Trials! And then there was Mrs. P and I, or as we were to be known on this day: Wonder Woman and Waldo!

That's right! This was Mrs. P's first road marathon and we were going to have fun with it! Even though I was able to line up in corral 1, I would be starting back in 4 with her and we were going to have a 26.2 mile good time!

Here's Mrs. P with Ohio Governor Ted Strickland. He's up for re-election next week and I wish him the best of luck!

We eventually met up with Angie, who was also running her first marathon. I needed to catch her in the act of updating Facebook while on the run!

I'll say this for race day: It was another Central Ohio beauty! We started just a little bit on the chilly side in the 40's, but with a clear sky the sun warmed things nicely. The ladies did a great job staying on the 5:00 pace for quite a while. That was their goal, to try to finish around 5 hours. Mrs. P had a side goal of beating my IM Wisconsin marathon time of 4:59.

We found the Great Pumpkin in German Village. I've seen him down there in previous years and high-5'd him.

Here we are at the point where the half marathon runners split off to finish at mile 13. They were each wondering what it was going to feel like to know the finish line was right there but they still had 13 more miles to go before reaching it. They were looking great so far!

As we made our way up High Street the sun was really beginning to warm up things. I was getting hot in my long Waldo sleeves but Angie was beginning to have some stomach problems. She was soon to fall behind us and we wouldn't see her again. She got pretty sick but still managed to push through it all and finish!

One gentleman we were leapfrogging with was a fellow Ironman. He did Louisville just two weeks before I did Wisconsin. He also ran the Indianapolis Marathon on Saturday, the day before Columbus! He was hurting and tired, but kept his smile on. This race was going to be his 40th marathon! I didn't catch his name, but he was nice enough to snap this photo of us as we headed into the Ohio State University Campus. We may also see him again at NC24 next year as we were telling him all about it.

President Obama was going to be here later in the day for a big rally so of course we needed to stop and pose with the sign!

We did a lot of walking, mostly walking, through Upper Arlington, Grandview Heights, and back down into Columbus, running only when there was a race photographer coming up. I would get to speed things up a couple times, mostly catching back up after taking a potty break, and those times would feel really good. But I didn't mind the slow pace at all. It was a nice day and we were able to waltz right down the middle of the streets!

Mrs. P on her way to the finish line! She tapped into some energy source that was until that point hidden, because I was having a hard time keeping pace with her! We finished in 5:22 and some change, neither of us sick or injured. She was going to get a little sore and a lot stiff but nothing too bad. I wouldn't have thought that running a PW (personal worst) would end up being so much fun!